Cycling in Liverpool

[darkstar]

Hi all, just wondering is anyone lives in Liverpool and knows of any nice routs/areas to cycle. I am here at uni and planning on getting my bike up here as soon as possible but don't know where to ride, looking for routs ranging from 30 miles up to 60, starting from Smithdown road.
All i can think of at the moment is loops of Sefton park as i'm not used to and don't particularly want to ride on busy roads.
Thanks

 

[BikeShapedObject]

Hi.... there's lots of routes. If you go to the www.letstravelwise.org/ and send them an email, asking for copies of the Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral maps, they'll send you them for free. They clearly show all the best routes for cyclists on decent quality maps.

I often do routes from Pier head to Runcorn via otterspool promenade, also there's the Trans Penine Trail route, which is mostly off-road all the way up to Southport, which is good for a 50+ miles jaunt.

 

[irw]

Hey there, I'm originally from Liverpool, and since I moved to Lichfield (West Mids) two years ago, I really miss some of the rides up there. (If anyone from round here wants to let me know about any good rides I'd be very appreciative!)

A good one is the Liverpool Loop Line (part of the trans pennine trail) which takes you all the way to southport, off road much of the way along the old Liverpool Loop railway line.

For second really nice and flat ride, take the ferry across to Seacombe, then you can ride along the car-free promenade all the way round to West Kirby.

Let me know if you want any more info!

Ian

 

[darkstar]

Cheers for the replies, but i'm sorry i wasn't very clear in my OP, i have a road bike and am after road rides, getting out into the countryside from where i am living on Smithdown Road, quiet roads, nice scenery and a few hills would be nice as well!

 

[BikeShapedObject]

Cheers for the replies, but i'm sorry i wasn't very clear in my OP, i have a road bike and am after road rides, getting out into the countryside from where i am living on Smithdown Road, quiet roads, nice scenery and a few hills would be nice as well!

The travelwise maps I mentioned have plenty of those routes. As IRW mentions, you can get the ferry over to Seaforth for pennies, and there's plenty of country road routes on the wirral, all the way to Chester. Also there's some good routes north of Liverpool, detailed on the Sefton map.

 

[Jonathan M]

If you're not afraid of putting some miles in then a long day in the saddle could see you heading out past Wigan & into the edge of the West Pennines. Think Ormskirk, Parbold Hill, Standish, Haigh Hall, Blackrod, Horwich Belmont. If you can place these on a map you'll figure that the busiest part of a ride here would be leaving & entering Liverpool, but once you are past the M57/58 motorways then the numbers of bike friendly country lanes increaes dramatically. Some of these will be on the Sefton travelwise map, but the further east you get the more you'd probably need to have an OS map to hand, and a good sense of direction!
Another option if the distance seems a bit OTT would be to get the train out to Ormskirk and start from there, trains on the Merseytravel network (run by Northern Trains) have space for a couple of bikes and so far they've not blinked an eye when I've used the service with bikes. The locals might though!

 

[Crackle]

I have at least one route with variations thereof, takes you out to Delamere forest, quite easy from Smithdown road, you will have to do some suburban riding and you do have to go over the Runcorn-Widnes bridge. I shall put it in Bikehike later and post the link. A word of warning, I haven't done it for many years so checking of roads around Widnes will need to be done. What kind of distance do you need? Got quite a few variations for around 20 - 40 miles. In fact once you get to Delamere and Cheshire, it's easy to extend a lot further. You can also go to Southport or take the ferry and head towards Cheshire or North Wales.

 

[garrilla]

The two good sustrans networks are local, but they are easy to get bored off.

However, you can go on a good loop from where you are, down to Oterspool, along to Peir Head, get the Ferry to Seaforth, follow the coast to West Kirby, then take the Wirral Way to Hooton, and then head to Frodsham via Great Suttton Thrnton-Le-moores and Helsby, and from there Beachwood, Weston, Weston point, RUcorn and over the bridge, coming back to Liverpool via Halebank, Hale, Halewood and back to Liverpool via Allerton.

Liverpool is not big though and you can get out into the country pdq.

I live not far from Smithdown in Wavertree and my routes tend to be:

South, out through Childwall, Nethelrlry, Hale/Halebank or Widness, Runcorn and then into Cheshire - frodsham, Hatchmere, Delamere, turn right Ashton, Manley and back to Frodhsham or left for Northwich, Little Leigh, Dutton - and then retrace from Runcorn to home.

North, Up to Aintree then Magull, Augton, Omskirk, Burscough, Rufford and then turning south to Parbold (great hill), Appleby Bridge, Gathurst, Billinge, St Helens, Prescot, Roby and back Wavertree

If you look on a map you see where these all are.

 

[Crackle]

Garilla's advice is good. Here's a Bikely route I put together as one possible way out. You would need to check whether my access to the bridge is still correct and on the other side of the bridge it's best to avoid all the Expressways. My route there looks a bit convoluted but once you do it it's easy and gets you into Frodsham pretty quick. I used to use it all the time. The route ends at Delamere station cafe but once up that way the worlds your oyster.

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22298

 

[garrilla]

Garilla's advice is good. Here's a Bikely route I put together as one possible way out. You would need to check whether my access to the bridge is still correct and on the other side of the bridge it's best to avoid all the Expressways. My route there looks a bit convoluted but once you do it it's easy and gets you into Frodsham pretty quick. I used to use it all the time. The route ends at Delamere station cafe but once up that way the worlds your oyster.

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22298

That's good advice- the express ways are basically Motorways, but you can cycle on them although best to avoid.

I take a different route to Crackle and its more convoluted (through Weston and then passed the Footbal Ground) for the view.

Another way is to take the Runcorn Spur Road, which is officially on the Cycle Network and has a shared path.

 

[Crackle]

Another way is to take the Runcorn Spur Road, which is officially on the Cycle Network and has a shared path.

I used to use that but gave it up as it was often strewn with glass. Is it better kept nowadays?

 

[Marko62]

Living in Runcorn as I do I think this route is the quickest and possibly the safest way of getting into Frodsham from Widnes and then on to Delamere. It makes use of a cycle path through Beechwood therefore avoiding the winding narrow bus strewn Beechwood avenue. To return just do the same journey in reverse. This is the way I get into Frodsham every w/e.

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22314

 

[Crackle]

Living in Runcorn as I do I think this route is the quickest and possibly the safest way of getting into Frodsham from Widnes and then on to Delamere. It makes use of a cycle path through Beechwood therefore avoiding the winding narrow bus strewn Beechwood avenue. To return just do the same journey in reverse. This is the way I get into Frodsham every w/e.

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22314

Aha, yes, I think that's the way off the bridge I should have picked, much better. I didn't know about that cyclepath either, local knowledge, excellent.

 

[Marko62]

Cheers for the replies, but i'm sorry i wasn't very clear in my OP, i have a road bike and am after road rides, getting out into the countryside from where i am living on Smithdown Road, quiet roads, nice scenery and a few hills would be nice as well!

You want quiet country roads with nice scenery and hills?

Here you go,

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22320

41 miles from the bridge and 2800ft climbing according to Bikehike.

Once you get through Frodsham then you have some great roads. Some challenging hills notably Bellemonte Rd in Frodsham and Chapel Ln in Willington. There is some duplication of route but thats mostly getting through the urban areas to the good stuff

EDIT - Link working now

 

[Jonathan M]

Living in Runcorn as I do I think this route is the quickest and possibly the safest way of getting into Frodsham from Widnes and then on to Delamere. It makes use of a cycle path through Beechwood therefore avoiding the winding narrow bus strewn Beechwood avenue. To return just do the same journey in reverse. This is the way I get into Frodsham every w/e.

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=22314

I'm not sure if that is the way that I use to get through Runcorn. Where Clifton Road starts to become Beechwood Avenue (just where the bus lane crossing is) there is a small path that shoots off & passes under the Rocksavage Expressway, this AFAIK is a dual use path and take you down to the roundabout with the M56 eastbound junction.
I'll add that I had a stupidly bad acciden on this route when my front wheel washed out on some black slime at the edge of the path (avoiding horse sht in the middle) ealry in November a few years ago.